WI: A country has 3 'capitals' pre-1900?

[Colonel Levnekov]

Like how South Africa has 3 capitals, which house different branches of the government.

Could this be done pre-1900? What would be some of the benefits of this? And if applied to a country where the OTL capital alienated a sizable amount of the population, could this solution fix it?

 

[Youngmarshall]

Like how South Africa has 3 capitals, which house different branches of the government.

Could this be done pre-1900? What would be some of the benefits of this? And if applied to a country where the OTL capital alienated a sizable amount of the population, could this solution fix it?

Couldn't you argue that this was true of the persian empire.

Herodotus wrote that they had muitiple capitals where the mobile royal court could be hosted and which hosted permanent parts of government. So for instance at any one time the buerocracy was in babylon, the royal mint was in Ecbatana, the tombs of the emperors were in Pasargade and the greatest palaces were in Susa and Persepolis.

 

[Umbric Man]

Couldn't you argue that this was true of the persian empire.

Herodotus wrote that they had muitiple capitals where the mobile royal court could be hosted and which hosted permanent parts of government. So for instance at any one time the buerocracy was in babylon, the royal mint was in Ecbatana, the tombs of the emperors were in Pasargade and the greatest palaces were in Susa and Persepolis.

This is on point. The only nitpick is that Parsargadae lost any official capital status (but retained prestige due to the aforementioned tomb) to Persepolis, but Babylon was a capital too and major second city. So, still three - Persepolis, Babylon, Susa.